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Author Topic: K-12 Schools & COVID  (Read 120893 times)

Uncle Rico

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #375 on: August 03, 2020, 08:10:26 AM »
Because that's what teachers do.

My wife is a teacher and everytime at tax time I ask why'd you buy this or that and it'd always something she needs but the district won't buy or doesn't have the budget for.

Ex-wife was a teacher.  Same thing.  Lot of teachers out there spending their own money to enhance the classroom experience
“This is bar none atrocious.  Mitchell cannot shoot either.  What a pile of dung”

jesmu84

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #376 on: August 03, 2020, 09:16:39 AM »
Ex-wife was a teacher.  Same thing.  Lot of teachers out there spending their own money to enhance the classroom experience

And that's sad. Failure everywhere.

mu_hilltopper

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #377 on: August 03, 2020, 10:47:58 AM »
My wife is a teacher too .. she buys stuff .. honestly, she could "expense" a lot of it .. but often it's just easier to pay for it ourselves.  I'm all right with that. 

$250 teacher deduction on tax form .. helps.

Pakuni

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #378 on: August 03, 2020, 10:50:01 AM »
Ex-wife was a teacher.  Same thing.  Lot of teachers out there spending their own money to enhance the classroom experience

Can confirm. My wife has a huge classroom library. She bought every item in it.

jesmu84

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #379 on: August 03, 2020, 10:53:06 AM »
My wife is a teacher too .. she buys stuff .. honestly, she could "expense" a lot of it .. but often it's just easier to pay for it ourselves.  I'm all right with that. 

$250 teacher deduction on tax form .. helps.

Was the tax deduction reduced recently?

MU Fan in Connecticut

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #380 on: August 03, 2020, 12:00:39 PM »
Was the tax deduction reduced recently?

No the Republicans wanted to in the 2018 bill but it ended up the same.  My wife usually goes well over it.

jesmu84

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #381 on: August 03, 2020, 12:11:58 PM »
No the Republicans wanted to in the 2018 bill but it ended up the same.  My wife usually goes well over it.

My mom and sisters too.

Still unfortunate that they need to do that.

pbiflyer

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #382 on: August 03, 2020, 02:32:01 PM »
No the Republicans wanted to in the 2018 bill but it ended up the same. My wife Every teacher usually goes well over it.

FIFY

pacearrow02

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #383 on: August 03, 2020, 09:45:53 PM »
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/health/us-coronavirus-monday/index.html

Surprised to see this link hasn’t been posted yet.  Fauci supports community by community decision making when it comes to reopening schools.

But as I was told, that line of thinking is why we’re still in this mess.  Could just be another instance of Fauci getting it wrong I suppose.

cheebs09

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #384 on: August 03, 2020, 10:16:48 PM »
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/health/us-coronavirus-monday/index.html

Surprised to see this link hasn’t been posted yet.  Fauci supports community by community decision making when it comes to reopening schools.

But as I was told, that line of thinking is why we’re still in this mess.  Could just be another instance of Fauci getting it wrong I suppose.

I don’t believe anyone has said there needs to be a one size fits all. However, when the individual communities ignore the science and recklessly re-open too early, that’s where the issues come in.
« Last Edit: August 04, 2020, 06:50:41 AM by cheebs09 »

pacearrow02

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #385 on: August 03, 2020, 10:27:09 PM »
I don’t believe anyone has said there needs to be a one size Fitzy s all. However, when the individual communities ignore the science and recklessly re-open too early, that’s where the issues come in.

Many people have, over and over and over again. 

GooooMarquette

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #386 on: August 03, 2020, 11:25:41 PM »
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/health/us-coronavirus-monday/index.html

Surprised to see this link hasn’t been posted yet.  Fauci supports community by community decision making when it comes to reopening schools.

But as I was told, that line of thinking is why we’re still in this mess.  Could just be another instance of Fauci getting it wrong I suppose.

He also said "The primary consideration should always be the safety, the health of the welfare of the children, as well as the teachers and the secondary effects for spreading (to) the parents and other family members.”

Unfortunately, health and welfare is not always the “primary consideration.” Just look at all the schools have reopened with masks “optional“ for students.

pacearrow02

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #387 on: August 04, 2020, 08:55:30 AM »
He also said "The primary consideration should always be the safety, the health of the welfare of the children, as well as the teachers and the secondary effects for spreading (to) the parents and other family members.”

Unfortunately, health and welfare is not always the “primary consideration.” Just look at all the schools have reopened with masks “optional“ for students.

I can only speak for Wisconsin but that optional mask thing has been taken care of.

So assuming all school districts follow the governors mandate and they enact other safety measures to mitigate risk are you comfortable with schools reopening?

GooooMarquette

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #388 on: August 04, 2020, 09:31:02 AM »
I can only speak for Wisconsin but that optional mask thing has been taken care of.

So assuming all school districts follow the governors mandate and they enact other safety measures to mitigate risk are you comfortable with schools reopening?


It depends on what you consider 'other safety measures'.

Just to be clear, we have learned that 'safety' involves not just measures taken within a given entity, but also the conditions in the community where the steps are taken. Given Fauci's statement that safety is the 'primary consideration', districts can't exclusively consider safety measure in the schools; they also need to consider the pervasiveness of the virus in the community. Therefore, safety considerations for school districts must also include declining community spread and a low community positivity rate - ideally under 5%.

If school districts follow all those principles for safely opening schools, then of course I would support their decision.

Regrettably, many school districts that have already opened skirted over the mask issue, and altogether ignored the community spread.

cheebs09

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #389 on: August 04, 2020, 09:53:55 AM »

It depends on what you consider 'other safety measures'.

Just to be clear, we have learned that 'safety' involves not just measures taken within a given entity, but also the conditions in the community where the steps are taken. Given Fauci's statement that safety is the 'primary consideration', districts can't exclusively consider safety measure in the schools; they also need to consider the pervasiveness of the virus in the community. Therefore, safety considerations for school districts must also include declining community spread and a low community positivity rate - ideally under 5%.

If school districts follow all those principles for safely opening schools, then of course I would support their decision.

Regrettably, many school districts that have already opened skirted over the mask issue, and altogether ignored the community spread.

Agree with the last part. I’ve already seen stores/sheriffs incorrectly citing the 4th amendment and HIPAA that they can’t ask if you have a medical condition. Basically, they are saying if you don’t wear a mask, we will assume you have a medical condition. So just because there is a mask mandate, it doesn’t mean it will be enforced.

GooooMarquette

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #390 on: August 04, 2020, 09:56:33 AM »
Agree with the last part. I’ve already seen stores/sheriffs incorrectly citing the 4th amendment and HIPAA that they can’t ask if you have a medical condition. Basically, they are saying if you don’t wear a mask, we will assume you have a medical condition. So just because there is a mask mandate, it doesn’t mean it will be enforced.

The lack of understanding – or the knowing misrepresentation - of HIPAA in this country is absolutely staggering.

pacearrow02

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #391 on: August 04, 2020, 10:13:21 AM »

It depends on what you consider 'other safety measures'.

Just to be clear, we have learned that 'safety' involves not just measures taken within a given entity, but also the conditions in the community where the steps are taken. Given Fauci's statement that safety is the 'primary consideration', districts can't exclusively consider safety measure in the schools; they also need to consider the pervasiveness of the virus in the community. Therefore, safety considerations for school districts must also include declining community spread and a low community positivity rate - ideally under 5%.

If school districts follow all those principles for safely opening schools, then of course I would support their decision.

Regrettably, many school districts that have already opened skirted over the mask issue, and altogether ignored the community spread.

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TSmith34, Inc.

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #392 on: August 04, 2020, 12:06:57 PM »
https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/health/us-coronavirus-monday/index.html

Surprised to see this link hasn’t been posted yet.  Fauci supports community by community decision making when it comes to reopening schools.

But as I was told, that line of thinking is why we’re still in this mess.  Could just be another instance of Fauci getting it wrong I suppose.
Maybe I scanned the article too quickly, but nowhere did I see Fauci saying it should be a community-by-community decision. He is saying that in order to reopen safely, universities need to take proper precautions and test. He is not saying, so far as I can see, that colleges should have random and differing standards for when students return as various states and communities did for reopening.

I do disagree with Fauci on one thing here, that he, Birx, and the epidemiologist I've referenced several times all seem to have in common: they all give their opinions with the expectation that Americans are going to act in a responsible manner. What evidence in the last 5 months makes them think people will act responsibly? Particularly college-age kids?

They seem to come at this with a science-based optimism that "of course people will do the right thing" while ignoring the human behavior exhibited so far.
If you think for one second that I am comparing the USA to China you have bumped your hard.

Frenns Liquor Depot

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #393 on: August 04, 2020, 12:14:18 PM »
Maybe I scanned the article too quickly, but nowhere did I see Fauci saying it should be a community-by-community decision. He is saying that in order to reopen safely, universities need to take proper precautions and test. He is not saying, so far as I can see, that colleges should have random and differing standards for when students return as various states and communities did for reopening.

I do disagree with Fauci on one thing here, that he, Birx, and the epidemiologist I've referenced several times all seem to have in common: they all give their opinions with the expectation that Americans are going to act in a responsible manner. What evidence in the last 5 months makes them think people will act responsibly? Particularly college-age kids?

They seem to come at this with a science-based optimism that "of course people will do the right thing" while ignoring the human behavior exhibited so far.

I listened to the entirety of the press conference as it was part of the CT governors periodic virus briefing.  The point he was trying to make to Nutmeggers was that the local conditions matter, we have a very low level of spread and that we should try to open schools.  Also he was agreeing with the metrics based approach to pause/reevaluate that the governor started with in his presentation.  Finally, there was a lot of dialog about prior S Gottleib statements underlying this because he has helped with the reopening plan. 

End of day the discussion was building off the concept of collective level of spread and reassuring CT residents that we are in a position to take a shot at opening schools in the fall.

MU Fan in Connecticut

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #394 on: August 04, 2020, 12:18:54 PM »
I listened to the entirety of the press conference as it was part of the CT governors periodic virus briefing.  The point he was trying to make to Nutmeggers was that the local conditions matter, we have a very low level of spread and that we should try to open schools.  Also he was agreeing with the metrics based approach to pause/reevaluate that the governor started with in his presentation.  Finally, there was a lot of dialog about prior S Gottleib statements underlying this because he has helped with the reopening plan. 

End of day the discussion was building off the concept of collective level of spread and reassuring CT residents that we are in a position to take a shot at opening schools in the fall.

I was going to share until my day job got in the way.  Interesting stuff from the Dr.


https://www.ctinsider.com/news/coronavirus/nhregister/article/Fauci-to-join-Lamont-in-daily-COVID-briefing-15454508.php?sid=5baaacf72ddf9c545d737065&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CT_NHR_Insider

Fauci: CT could avoid COVID resurgence
By Kaitlyn Krasselt By Kaitlyn Krasselt Aug. 3, 2020 Updated: Aug. 3, 2020 7:31 p.m

Connecticut is “in a good place” when it comes to controlling the COVID-19 virus and is unlikely to see a resurgence if the state continues its vigilance in adhering to protocols like mask wearing and mitigating crowds, according to the nation’s top infectious-disease doctor, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Joining Gov. Ned Lamont during the state’s daily coronavirus update Monday, Fauci had continued optimism that a vaccine would be approved by the end of this year and widely distributed by the second half of 2021, as he informed Connecticut residents that they can already take part in phase three clinical trials for a potential drug.

“The numbers are really indicative that you’re in a situation that you now, in many respects, have the upper hand because you have such a low rate that when you do get new cases, you have the capability of containment as opposed to mitigation,” Fauci said. “The other thing I heard from the governor that I’m very pleased with is that despite favorable numbers, you’re not pulling back on your vigilance in making sure you don’t have a resurgence of cases that would put you back rather than stay where you are and going forward.”

Fauci’s appearance comes after months of relatively few media appearances and reports from the New York Times and other outlets that the White House muzzled Fauci, though Fauci later denied that on MSNBC.

Connecticut has consistently led the country in maintaining a low positivity rate for new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, despite being an early hot spot for the virus.

While Fauci used the state as an example — applauding the state’s approach to containing and mitigating the spread — even Connecticut has seen protests from groups opposed to mask wearing and social distancing, and who say the virus is a hoax. But Fauci was clear: any reports that mask wearing is ineffective, “are untrue and misleading.”

Fauci, who testified before Congress with other health officials on Friday, again appeared hopeful about the development of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year and getting the virus under control if Americans are vigilant about wearing masks and avoiding crowds.

Fauci said there are several vaccine candidates and two have entered into stage 3 clinical trials — that means thousands of people across the country will test the potential vaccines at 89 clinical trial sites across the country. Connecticut residents can find a trial site in the state and sign up to participate at coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org, Fauci said.

“Clearly we have at least cautious optimism,” Fauci said.

Lamont announced during the briefing a set of metrics for school districts to use in determine the level of in-person learning that will be safe for the upcoming year. While schools should be prepared to change course, it appears every district in the state is in a position to open for as much in-person learning as possible. Fauci said schools should try to open for in-person learning as much as possible.

Fauci emphasized universal mask wearing, continued avoidance of crowds, maintaining six feet of social distancing wherever possible, vigilant hand washing, and staying outdoors as much as possible

And “Stay away from bars,” Fauci said. “I know that’s difficult from an economic standpoint, but that’s a big spreader of infection.”

“Just those five or six things are very important and you have been successful in containing outbreaks as well as preventing the resurgences,” he said.

In February, Fauci appeared on the podcast of Community Health Center Inc., a Connecticut based provider of primary health care services for the uninsured and underserved.

kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt

mu_hilltopper

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #395 on: August 04, 2020, 12:47:09 PM »
Our school district .. after two ~6 hour board meetings .. voted for a split in-person method, half the students going Mon/Tues, half Thurs/Fri, plus a virtual option for families who desire that.

During the public comment, there were teachers who spoke for the entire teachers association .. all were against in-person classes, and a survey with 25% saying they would resign, retire, take FMLA leaves, or require WFH due to health issues. 

One of the criteria for starting in-person classes is having enough staff -- It's entirely possible the teachers 'veto' the decision for in-person classes. 

GooooMarquette

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #396 on: August 04, 2020, 01:24:28 PM »
Our school district .. after two ~6 hour board meetings .. voted for a split in-person method, half the students going Mon/Tues, half Thurs/Fri, plus a virtual option for families who desire that.

During the public comment, there were teachers who spoke for the entire teachers association .. all were against in-person classes, and a survey with 25% saying they would resign, retire, take FMLA leaves, or require WFH due to health issues. 

One of the criteria for starting in-person classes is having enough staff -- It's entirely possible the teachers 'veto' the decision for in-person classes.


My wife has spoken to many teachers in our district who will retire if there are in-person classes. Most are in the 60-70 age range, and were still teaching just for the love of it. It would be a shame, but I don't blame them. FWIW, they comprise over 20% of our full-time teachers, so we would very likely have a shortage.

And I know we don't have enough bus drivers. They have been a bit short-staffed for years and have many second-career retirees, but it has clearly gotten worse. There are signs advertising for school bus drivers all over town.

mu_hilltopper

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #397 on: August 04, 2020, 03:45:42 PM »
What's the status of COVID liability exemptions these days?

It would seem to be a perfect setup for education professionals.  COVID starts in March, teacher X is healthy for 7 months, then are ordered to teach in-person and bang, they have COVID, and a clear link to a workplace illness.

Skatastrophy

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #398 on: August 04, 2020, 07:35:39 PM »
What's the status of COVID liability exemptions these days?

It would seem to be a perfect setup for education professionals.  COVID starts in March, teacher X is healthy for 7 months, then are ordered to teach in-person and bang, they have COVID, and a clear link to a workplace illness.

Republican senators are trying to get that into the next relief package. CARES v2

Marquette Fan

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Re: K-12 School year?
« Reply #399 on: August 04, 2020, 09:16:11 PM »
Our District's face to face plan is a joke.  There are so many 'where feasible' statements and so many things not addressed.  And I question how they can enact some of the stuff in their plan from a financial and staffing perspective.   It remains to be seen if they start with any in person classes but my kids will be starting out with a virtual option.